Urinary Stone Disease and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in a Rural Chinese Population

Urinary stone disease (USD) is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Western populations. However, the prevalence and relationship between USD and CVD risk have not been fully examined in the Chinese population.

We performed a cross-sectional study of 10,281 participants in rural China. All subjects underwent renal ultrasound to detect USD, brachial-ankle pulsewave velocity (baPWV) measurement to estimate arterial stiffness, and ankle-brachial index (ABI) examination to detect peripheral arterial disease (PAD) (defined as ABI <0.9 on at least 1 side of the body).

Mean age of the study population was 55.4 ± 10.0 years; 47.1% were men. Among all participants, 5.7% (n = 582) had USD, mean baPWV was 15.6 ± 3.2 m/s, and 4.0% had PAD. The prevalence of USD increased in parallel with mean arterial pressure, albuminuria, Framingham risk score, and baPWV. In multivariate analyses after adjustment for demographic characteristics, USD was significantly associated with an increased risk of hypertension (odds ratio [OR]: 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08-1.62), albuminuria (OR: 2.17; 95% CI: 1.74-2.69), chronic kidney disease (OR: 2.11; 95% CI: 1.70-2.62), increased arterial stiffness (OR: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.01-1.52), and PAD (OR: 1.50; 95% CI: 1.04-2.16).

In rural China, USD was associated with a high prevalence of traditional CVD risk factors, increased arterial stiffness, and PAD. The presence of USD should increase physician awareness of the concomitant presence of CVD risk factors.